Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Friday assured India that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the suicide bomb attack near the Indian embassy in Kabul to ascertain who was behind it.
Pakistan on Friday agreed to let India transport 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving drugs as humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan on Afghan trucks through the Wagah border crossing, after a row erupted between the two countries over the modalities of transportation.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the government was doing everything to rescue her.
Twenty to thirty rockets landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the centre of Kabul, Tolo news reported. There are no reports of causalities yet.
A statement on a Taliban website said 20 fighters, including suicide bombers, are involved in the attack -- specifically targetted at government buildings and Serena Hotel located in the area.
Because of his proximity to Indira Gandhi, he was able to intervene directly at the level of the PMO, which he did in the days leading up to the partition of Pakistan in 1971 when he transferred crucial information about Pakistan's moves via information handed to him by an East Pakistani diplomat in Poland where he was posted.
'Steven MacQueen, who was working for the [Afghan] Ministry of Rural Development and Rehabilitation, was killed last night,' British embassy press officer Colin Ball said.
The suicide bombing outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul was condemned on Thursday, by various nations, including the UK, US and Pakistan, who described the attack as "deeply troubling" and "awful".
The resolution, which was passed unanimously, would extend the NATO led force's area of operations to several provinces which are now ruled by armed warlords.
At least 10 people have been killed in a more than four-hour standoff between militants and police at a luxury hotel in Kabul, according to the Afghan police.
The Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul has come under attack by suicide bombers and gunmen, in which at least 10 people have been reportedly killed, reported BBC.
Their names have been forwarded by the Defence Ministry for the top honour as a tribute to the deceased, sources said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
In Kabul's national sports stadium, two young women fencers take guard, their faces covered with protective wire masks as they stand off warily, foils circling before they thrust at their opponent.
The terrible beauty of Doval's initiative is that it is all about a new journey rather than about a set compass pointing toward a pre-determined destination, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
According to English daily Dawn, goods manufactured in India are reaching Kabul through Pakistan under the tags of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the death of medical personnel in the Kabul blast defined the risks Indian medical teams have to face while serving in Afghanistan.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif is in war-ravaged Kabul to start his coaching assignment with the Afghanistan cricket team but claims that security is hardly a concern for him.
Making his way into Afghanistan unannounced, United States President Barack Obama signed a landmark strategic partnership agreement strengthening post-war ties with Kabul after 2014 when American combat forces return home.
A wave of suicide attacks in Kabul, which left 18 people dead -- half of them Indians, once again highlighted the bloody wrestle between India and Pakistan for influence in Afghanistan.
A special aircraft will leave on Friday night for Kabul to bring back the bodies of Indians killed in the attack in Kabul earlier in the day.
The United States is likely to turn up the heat on Pakistan following the alleged involvement of the Haqqani network in the Kabul attacks, says Tahir Ali.
Expressing concern over the terror attack on Indian embassy in Kabul, India's envoy to United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri has asked the world leaders to negotiate an international treaty to tackle terrorism expeditiously.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will visit Kabul on February 1 to boost Pakistan-Afghanistan ties and efforts to engage the Taliban that were affected by the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani last year.
Hinting at Pakistani link to the Kabul embassy attack, India on Saturday said Afghanistan faces threat from terrorists and their "patrons residing across the border" and that the blast was handiwork of those who want to undermine Indo-Afghan friendship.
An Army Major, who was injured in the terror strike in Kabul, died at a hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday, taking to seven the number of Indians killed in the attack.Major Ritesh Roy of the Army Education Corps died in the Army Hospital Research and Referral. Two other Major-rank army officers have also been killed in the attack.Commissioned in the Army in 2001, Major Roy had been posted in Kabul since March last year. His wife Captain Seema Mishra is also an AEC officer.
Director Kabir Khan talks about his film, Kabul Express.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will be leaving for Kabul on Thursday morning, though officially, his visit is still being kept under wraps for security reasons.
Ms Swaraj was a conscientious woman who understood suffering and pathos and attempted in her inimitable way to mitigate them, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
In other developments, two US Marines were among 14 people killed in a five hour gunbattle with insurgents.
Militants fired four rockets at the Afghan Parliament on Monday with one impacting the new building that was built with India's assistance, media reports said.
India on Friday presented evidence to Pakistan regarding involvement of ISI in the July 7 Kabul embassy bombing as the members of the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism (JATM) met in New Delhi.
Displaying anger at the Kabul embassy blast in which "elements" based in Pakistan were involved, New Delhi on Monday said the incident had vitiated the atmosphere putting the dialogue process "under stress" and asked Islamabad to address its concerns.
Three Indians were on Wednesday killed in a Taliban suicide attack on a NATO supply company's compound in Kabul.
A French restaurant popular with foreigners in Kabul was the target of a New Year's Day bombing on Friday, officials said.
'Action for the sake of action never really works, then it's an item number.' 'Action works when the emotional drama and arc of the story moves forward with the action.'
In the wake of the Friday's Kabul bombing, a team of Indian investigators has been rushed to the Afghan capital and National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon will pay a visit there on March 5, to discuss security of Indians in Afghanistan. The Indian team, including officials of home and defence ministries, has joined their Afghan counterpart in probing the attack on the two hotels on Friday.
In a statement issued to the media on board a special flight to Japan for the G8 Summit, Dr Singh said, " I am horrified to know of the death of our personnel in the dastardly terrorist attack on our embassy in Kabul. The loss of precious Indian and Afghan lives must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Those responsible, directly or indirectly, for this terrorist attack and for making this possible are no better than the worst criminals."
A United States general was killed in an attack at a British-run army training centre in Kabul on Tuesday -- the highest-ranking American casualty since the 9/11 attacks.
The Pakistan-based Haqqani network is suspected to have carried out the brazen suicide attacks on western embassies and Parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi has said.
Indian Airlines is ready to operate flights from Delhi to Kabul and from Mumbai to Karachi subject to necessary clearances from the Indian government.
